DeCarlo, Carolyn. The Ottoman Empire. Part of the Empires in the Middle Ages series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-68048-785-5. Available at 956.01 on the library shelves.
Pushed westward by the Mongol expansion in the 1200s, various tribes of nomad horsemen from an area then known as Turkistan, in Central Asia, spread through the Middle East and came into contact with the Byzantine Empire. One of these tribes, the Seljuks, established a small kingdom in what is now central Turkey, called it the Sultanate of Rome, and proceeded, through military conquests, to seize large portions of the area, including Syria, Jerusalem, and even Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Named after Osman, by the time of the Empire’s fall, the Ottomans had spread far and wide, conquering as far as North Africa and reaching the gates of Vienna.
For over two hundred years, from the mid 1300s to the mid 1500s, the Ottoman Empire expanded rapidly and imposed its law and culture. A period of consolidation followed, where the Ottomans’ accomplishments in literature, public works, and good governance ushered a golden age. The Renaissance in Europe, however, led to European expansion, and undermined the Ottoman Empire by bypassing its control of land routes to Asia through the establishment of maritime commerce. In parallel, European armies pushed the Ottomans slowly back, until the Hapsburg Monarchy had regained many of the lands it had lost.
As the speed and spread of innovation drove much of European economies, the Ottoman Empire found itself falling behind. Many of the lands it controlled in theory became European colonies. For many decades the Empire became known as the Sick Man of Europe, and remained in place due to conflicting views among the European powers, many of whom were keen on dismembering it but did not want their rivals to benefit. As Europe moved towards war, the Ottomans’ leadership found itself closer ideologically to Germany and Austria-Hungary and joined the Triple Entente. On the losing end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was amputated of many of its remaining territories, while nationalistic fervor struck inside its core, leading to the establishment of modern Turkey.
Titles in the Empires in the Middle Ages series include:
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